


can you let your baby be my girl?

by cooperbettycooper



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst and Fluff and Smut, Cheating, F/M, Light Angst, Smut, but they're cheating with the right people so it's okay, everyone is happy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-06
Updated: 2017-10-06
Packaged: 2019-01-09 14:41:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12278619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cooperbettycooper/pseuds/cooperbettycooper
Summary: She’s not sure why but the world just wants to give them a second chance, and god she’d die to take it. Maybe their past could be a new beginning, maybe fate is begging the two to pick up a pencil and erase as viciously as they can, rub and smear away what had gone so wrong to have room to rewrite a new story.She’s willing to try, and she hopes he is too.[bughead au, post-graduating high school and set in new york. jughead and betty have found themselves in the wrong relationships with the wrong people but that's remedied soon enough.]





	can you let your baby be my girl?

**Author's Note:**

> so this is a little bit out of my comfort zone but ay. here it is. subpar smut below, you've been warned.
> 
> oh and before we get there, I know I get preachy about this stuff feel it's important for me to mention: if you're in a relationship like archie and betty's, _it's abusive. that's not healthy._ I know I didn't give much insight into their relationship dynamic beyond what you get below, but if your partner treats you like an object instead of the wonderful whole human being you are, it is in fact, abusive. 
> 
> (in terms of the fic: no graphic details, I promise.) 
> 
> do whatever you need to do to get out of relationships like that. betty was a bit of a sitting duck, trying to ignore it. that doesn't work in real life. if you need to dump this person, do so as soon as possible. if your partner's a cheater, make sure you get out of that relationship asap.
> 
> if this is an abuse situation and they might become violent, contact appropriate law enforcement and get yourself into a position where you are safe. the two national domestic abuse/violence hotlines, should you need them in that sort of situation, are 1−800−799−7233, and 1−800−787−3224. you can find international resources online quite easily.
> 
> on a different note, jughead and ronnie's is not abusive, just very indifferent and cold. the relationship does nothing for either of them, and a good relationship should bring happiness to both parties, not drain you of that happiness. if you're in that kind of relationship, you can do better. trust me. don't settle for less when there's so much out there just waiting for you. 
> 
>  
> 
> **you deserve better than that.**
> 
>  
> 
> **there is someone out there better, just waiting for you to come along.**
> 
>  
> 
> also, thanks to @blevswrites and @camelotskingz for saving my ass with this fic overall.   
> with that being said, lets get on with the story.

The bane of Jughead’s existence is seeing the way Archie always grips her arm, pulling her to sit, pulling her to stand, pulling her to run off somewhere with him that Jughead would prefer not to think about. They’ve been married for 3 years and Jughead doesn’t think he will ever understand how there isn’t a permanent imprint of Archie’s hand on her arm. She complies every time, something which makes absolutely no sense to him. He doesn’t understand why a girl as incredible as Betty is settling, like she’s been doing her entire life. She’s just settling for less, when she’s so clearly destined for better things--correction--better people.

He’s not sure what he means by better people. He’s not sure at all who’s good enough for Betty, but he wishes it could be him instead of his aggressive “best friend”. Over the course of the past three years he’s been watching quietly, swallowing wet angry tears every time he sees Archie drag her around like she’s his. Jughead’s been passionate about one thing all his life, and it’s that Betty Cooper deserves better than what she’s letting herself have.

Right now Archie, Betty, Jughead, and his apparent “girlfriend,” Veronica Lodge (he’s never called her that, not once in his life. He’s always believed that was a term for special relationships and this was not it), are all sitting around on Veronica’s expensive couture leather couch and nursing glasses filled with wine whose names he can’t pronounce to save his life. They had just finished a movie but Jughead just couldn’t pay attention to it with Betty sitting right beside him.  
.  
Jughead’s never felt at home in Veronica’s grandiose New York apartment. She’s the ritzy, high maintenance type, so pretty much everything Jughead aspires not to be. He’s simple and believes in small joys. A hot cup of coffee, reading in the car at night and grabbing snatches of sentences when Veronica’s car passes under a streetlight. Waking up early and watching the sunrise and talking about nothing and everything. Needless to say, it didn’t take much to please him.

Veronica is nothing like that. She’s rich clothes and retail therapy coupled with happy hour and valium after a hard day. She wears her precious high heels in the house (now that he thinks about it, Jughead is pretty sure he’s never even seen her bare feet), clicking and clacking behind her as she buzzes about, clad in brands practically unheard of on their side of the world. She isn’t much of a talker either, at least not about anything sentimental. Veronica’s forever unpleased, always wanting more, more, more, which is why Jughead’s surprised she’s had him around for so long.

Everyone else calls it an instance of opposites attract, but there’s no attraction from either side. He’s pretty sure she knows it as well. He never calls first and at this point neither does she. They’re only together because they’re afraid to break up. He would call it comfortability, but was it even that? Some of Veronica’s prissy inner circle say they’re waiting on wedding bells and the thought terrifies him; it even makes him sick.

Perhaps the reason Jughead can’t fall for Veronica like everyone wants him to is because he only has eyes for his best friend’s girl. Oh, woe is he.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jughead notices Archie, a hand tightening on Betty like she’s some sort of ragdoll. His fingers curl around her arm and he feels everything turn as red as the shade of Betty’s arm. He wants to act without thinking, pry his iron grip away from her fragile skin before it leaves unsightly bruises. But all he does is bite his lip and stare angrily.

This is how it’s always been. He wonders if this is how it’ll always be.

His rather melancholy thoughts are interrupted by Veronica’s slightly slurred voice.

“Well, I think it’s appropriate that the night comes to an end!” Veronica says, her fake layer of cheer pasted onto every word. She once told Jughead that the Lodge family is rather unhappy, but needs to save face in the public eye. That definitely did not surprise him.  
Betty yawns before offering a weak smile to the raven haired girl. Archie allows her the leniency to stand and brush off her deep blue dress. Jughead loves it on her, it brings out her eyes and makes her hair glow by comparison. He’s sure he’d love Betty in anything.

“Thank you Ronnie, for the wonderful night.” Betty says, setting her practically full glass of red wine down on the table and making her way down the hall and to the door, Archie trailing behind her possessively. Jughead gets up himself and rolls his eyes at the sight before walking in the same direction as Betty. He just needs to get home and get some sleep. Being around the girl of his affections, her boyfriend, and the girl of his nightmares all at once is draining.

He hears Veronica call something indistinct to Archie, who turns around with an odd smile. Jughead is instantly suspicious, but Betty doesn’t seem to have noticed as she slips her feet into a pair of worn kitten heels.

“Betty, I’m going to spend the night here, me and Veronica need to…” Archie trailed off and headed back towards the living room.

Betty gives him a weary smile that Jughead was sure he didn’t even see, but he is still doubtful.

“This happens a lot, Jug. Nothing to worry about,” The sad tone of Betty’s voice makes Jughead’s heart hurt.

His mind trails to the worst possible outcome. No, Archie would never. Maybe he wasn’t the best guy around but he’d never cheat.

Especially not when he already had the stars and the sun and the whole universe waiting at home for him.

“Huh. I’ll be off too, Ron,” Jughead called, eyes still narrowed as he opened the door for Betty, and the two were now alone in the hallway of her apartment, plush carpeting under their feet.

Jughead notices small, shallow lines forming on Betty’s face as they walk side by side, wordlessly. It’s the most comfortable silence, and they’re both content to leave it intact. Jughead, being Jughead, decides to break it anyway.

“Betty, is everything okay?”

She sighs before replying, the cold November air swirling from her mouth before fading away. It’s one of those nights where it’s warm enough to wear a sweater and no heavy coat but chilly enough to see your own breath. Jughead watches her rub her hands together before putting them in her pockets.

“I don’t know, Juggie.”

After all these years, she still calls him that; he feels like he’ll never grow tired of hearing it.

“It’s just been hard, Archie’s never at home and things are stressful.” Betty says quietly, trudging through the streets of the dimly lit city.

Even after everything that’s happened in the course of their years-long friendship, Jughead’s always appreciated the fact that Betty feels comfortable enough to confide in him. It both hurts him and comforts him at the same time, because he wishes he could just take her pain away.

“I’m sorry, Betty.”

He knows it’s a lame answer. He just can’t think of anything to say that doesn’t involve spilling sonnets and poems and pages worth of his feelings for her. He can’t think of something to do that isn’t pulling her into his arms and kissing her. So they keep walking in a tearful solemn silence, tinged by feelings and words unsaid.

Before they know it, they’re at the stairwell Betty has to take to get on the subway to get home.

Jughead feels tears well up in his eyes. He’s not only pathetically in love with her, but the man who is lucky enough to have her doesn’t realize what he’s missing. Jughead is startled when Betty presses her soft lips to his cheek, leaving a little pink lipstick stain before wishing him goodbye. And then she’s out of his sight, but certainly not out of his mind.

 

* * *

 

 

Betty isn’t sure why she kissed Jughead, even just on the cheek, even though she has come to the conclusion that Archie is cheating on her.

She should be angry, vengeful, hurt. But she just can’t bring herself to really feel anything about it.

Archie thinks he’s being slick and subtle, but she hears him sneak out of bed with flimsy excuses and disappear for long periods of time and go on “business trips” when those wouldn’t be quite that common in his profession. (He’s a high school gym teacher. Come on now, she isn’t stupid.) She’s not really sure who the other woman is or if she’s just one of many. Betty’s just sitting in a quiet complacency, ignoring that bubbling pit of anger in her stomach that never seems to simmer down completely. Of course she’s upset, just too apathetic to do anything about it.

The night had been so full of tension, and for just a second she’d thought Jughead felt it too. She’d been glancing over to him all night, seeing his empty eyes and bored disposition. He looked like a bird that’d been caged in too long, no longer bothering to say a word. Just allowing himself to be restrained without resistance. His eyes looked empty, and Veronica’s drunken giggles and cheek kisses made him freeze. She could tell.

How did they even get in this position? Miserable and apart? Things had been going so well, she’s not even sure where her relationship with Jughead lapsed into strained friendship then nothingness. How were they supposed to be strangers, friends, when they’d bared their souls to each other?

Oh well. Betty kicks off her heels by the door and walks over to the wine cooler in their moderately sized apartment. She glances at the time and pulls out a bottle. She’s not sure what it is but she doesn’t really care. She pulls a glass from the cabinet and pours some for herself, leaving the bottle on the counter.

It’s just another quiet night of solitude and contemplation. Not unlike the others. An episode of some show on Netflix offers her some mildly effective white noise and some semblance of comfort while she scrolls through her work emails on her phone.

Then she gets a text that breaks her typical routine.

Jughead: Betty? I left my key at veronica’s, can i stay over tonight

Huh? Jughead hadn’t asked to stay over in months. She’d always chalked it up to the distance between them and the odd disconnect after high school. She’s not sure why she’s so inclined to say yes, even though all forces in the universe masquerading as common sense are willing her to turn him down.

Betty: sure.

She finishes the wine in the glass before running off into her room to change. If Jughead was coming over, despite her 100% confidence that he wouldn’t care if she looked like she’d just crawled out of a dumpster, she’d like to look decent. Betty opens her closet with disdain. Yes, it was just past midnight so her options were limited, but she seemed severely lacking in pajamas that looked somewhat good. She makes a mental note to check out that lingerie and nightwear store that just opened up in the mall a couple weeks ago.

With a devilish grin, Betty pulls out her one silk nightdress. It’s a little old and worn, but as she shimmies out of her day’s clothes and into it, letting her hair down and shaking out the golden strands, she feels confident. Sexy, even. It shows off her long legs.

Then, she realizes what she’s doing and the smile is gone.

What is she hoping for, really? It’s not like Jughead chose her of all people to stay with overnight by choice. It must have been out of obligation. And he isn’t single, he’s dating her best friend. Or supposed best friend, she should say. But here she is getting sexy for him when he’s probably just going to walk in, give her a polite hello, and crash out on the couch.

She considers changing, but there’s a knock at the door and it’s too late to overthink it.

 

* * *

 

 

Jughead feels like a dirty dirty liar, twiddling his fingers waiting for Betty to open the door. The key to his apartment is in his jacket, and it’s a weight in his pocket. His text to Betty hadn’t been entirely a lie, he did leave his key at Veronica’s. But he’d gone back to get it, and stumbled upon Archie and Veronica in a state of undress and indecency. He should have known, really. With the way they’d been acting lately, something had been up.

He just had to tell Betty now.

He wondered how she’d react, but Jughead knew she must at least have some insinuation of Archie cheating in her mind. She isn’t stupid, she’s the most insightful person he’s ever met and she connects the dots in an instant. She must know.

He wonders if her situation is like his with Veronica. He isn’t even upset about Veronica. It was almost freeing to know they finally had a reason to split. It doesn’t repair his pining-for-Betty issue, but it certainly does cut down on his stress sources. He feels relieved. But him and Ronnie never made things so serious, whilst Archie and Betty are married.

The door opens, and he feels his breath catch in his throat.

Her hair is a little disheveled and wavy from a long day of being pulled up. Her skin looks soft and flushed and he’s sure he could still trace the patterns of her every scar and marking, he’d memorized them in high school. Her long legs are in full view and she’s wearing a silky sort of something but it barely passes for a dress and he doesn’t mind.

Archie, you absolute idiot.

“Are you going to come in?” She offers, stepping out of the way of the door and forcing Jughead to stop staring awkwardly.

He steps inside the apartment. It’s not on the particularly huge side, but it’s decent and furnished nicely. There’s a lot of white and cream colours, but instead of feeling sterile and alienating like Veronica’s apartment, it feels nice. Homely.

“Do you want to eat something?” Betty offers, walking over to the fridge and perusing it for some sort of snack. He slips into the barstool by the counter. It seems pretty barren actually. If Archie’s kept up on old habits, he probably snacked more than he ate full meals. No wonder they didn’t have much in that department.

“No, I’m good actually.” She turns away from the fridge, putting a bottle of wine from the counter back in a small cooler before sitting next to him.

“Jughead Jones, the man of massive appetite, would pass on a snack?” She jokes. “Do I even know you anymore?”

He laughs weakly. Maybe it’s just the day’s events, but he can’t really stomach anything right now.

“Betty, I need to tell you something.”

She nods once, motioning for him to continue.

She deserves to know.

“Um, Betty, I lied to you that I needed to stay here for the night.”

“Why, Juggie? You don’t have to lie, you’re always welcome to stay.” She tilts her head to the side ever so slightly, confused.

“Because I went back for my keys, and I saw Archie and Veronica in a--”

“Let me guess. A compromising position. I already know about this, Jug.”

It’s his turn to give her a confused look. If she knows, why hasn’t she left Archie? Why haven’t they split formally?

“I haven’t left him despite almost 100% confirmation that he’s cheating because this is our home, Juggie. I don’t know who’s going to have to move out of this apartment, we bought it together. And divorce is complicated, and messy. I don’t know if I can do that right now. Then there’s the element of me eventually having to see someone else and I just--”

Jughead felt his heart sink. Betty’s going through so much and he shouldn’t be so selfish as to think of his attraction to her.

“Is there anything I can do, Betty? You name it and I’ll do it.”

“I don’t think so, Juggie. I just wish we hadn’t broken up. Why did we break up?” She said quietly.

“I have no idea, Betty. I just...I don’t even know how to answer that.”

The air between them is heavy and neither of them really know what to do.

“There has to be a reason we’re still in each other’s lives, Juggie. And I really miss being with you.”

He gulps. “Yeah, me too. Maybe the world is trying to tell us to try again.”

And then his lips are on hers and it’s like the first real breath either of them have taken in so so long. He scoops her off the seat and sets her on the counter, lips not leaving each other all that time. He’s just eager to devour her again, to be whole and complete and with the girl he loves after all these years. She seems to want as such, pulling him closer.

It feels like major deja vu to high school, their first time happened on the kitchen counter in Jughead’s father’s trailer. It’s been so long since then, but it feels just the same. They’re drinking in nostalgia for days past through each other, unable to get enough. She pulls his shirt off and she’s got her ankles linked around his lower back, pulling him closer.

And this is when he realizes just how badly he wants this to be good for her, he wants to please her but he is absolutely terrified to do this again in so long.

He realizes that he loves her, but he doesn’t know how to show it. He can’t bring himself to do anything but suck in a tight breath, and like a child who’s climbed too high up a tree and can no longer come down, he feels his veins flood with apprehension. Maybe this is a bad idea. They haven’t been together in years and Jughead’s not sure if this is just the hastiness of being newly cheated on coming out.

“Do you want to do this, Betty?” He asks nervously.

“Yes, more than anything.”

“Okay,” he whispers. It’s all the permission he needs. He’s lifting her off the countertop and carrying her in ideally the direction of the bedroom, but he’s not sure what door that is.

“It’s that one,” She laughs, until they’re inside and her back meets the rumpled sheets and his lips are on hers.

Her body feels so at ease, his fingers tracing the thin strap of her nightgown, pulling it down and leaving her exposed to the chill of the air. Yet with their breaths so close, the force so heavy between them, she’s able to surrender herself to his magical touch and shut off her mind. And something about this feels so deliciously naughty. She's in her and her husband's bed kissing the man who actually loves her, another glimpse into how things should be but aren't. She wonders how Archie would feel, knowing her and Jughead's salacious activities right where he usually sleeps.

She pulls the offensive garment out from under her and throws it to the ground, and she’s not even wearing a bra. She swears she can see him lick his lips, before his fingers go out to tweak at one of her nipples, eliciting a squeak from her. She’s throwing her head back in pleasure, and his hands are moving lower and lower until they’re finally near where she needs him most, desperate with need. There’s a wet spot on her panties and he removes them after she nods viciously that yes, he’s allowed to.

Jughead’s mouth is flush against her centre and his tongue moves against her just like it used to all those years ago. He remembers how to make her feel good, he doesn’t think he could ever forget. She hasn’t felt anything nearly so good in so long, and after an embarrassingly short amount of time, she’s practically moaning his name like her life depends on it, filling the empty room with sounds of her pleasure. The thin paper walls must be shaking. There’s no way the people who share her walls don’t know what’s going on, but she doesn’t care. He’s only more determined, he wants them to know.

Coming up to remove his remaining jeans and boxers, he pushes into her, her heat enveloping him and it takes everything in him not to come right then. It takes her a second to adjust to his size, but she gives him the go ahead to start moving and he does. He tries to start out soft and slow but he can’t help himself. He needs this, they both do.

It’s not long until his hips are snapping into hers and his hand is rubbing viciously at her clit, and he’s whispering her name coupled with sweet nothings with ardent passion against her neck. He can feel her shaking as he hits that spot inside of her that makes her scream over and over again. He comes for the first time, and she does too, and it takes them a minute to come down from that high.

He pulls her into his side, bodies practically melting together as she tries to catch her breath. That was so perfect, she wishes it could last forever.

“I love you, Betty.” He whispers tiredly.

“I love you too,” she replies. Unlike with Archie, she doesn’t hesitate to say it. The words come to her so naturally.

She’s not sure why but the world just wants to give them a second chance, and god she’d die to take it. Maybe their past could be a new beginning, maybe fate is begging the two to pick up a pencil and erase as viciously as they can, rub and smear away what had gone so wrong to have room to rewrite a new story.

She’s willing to try, and she hopes he is too.

**Author's Note:**

> so I hope you liked it?
> 
> if you did, it would mean the world to me if you left a comment. 
> 
> <3
> 
>  
> 
> _find me on tumblr: @cooperbettycooper_


End file.
